The C.I.A.'s use of torture and the U.S. reluctance to punish those responsible have set back efforts to fight torture worldwide, the U.N. special rapporteur on torture said today.

The report detailing excessive tactics has put President Obama, who ended the program, on the defensive, with some Democrats accusing him of a cover-up.

• Detention ends in Afghanistan.

The Defense Department said today that it shut its last detention site in Afghanistan, a move that officials said was not related to the torture report.

Separately, President Obama is ramping up efforts to transfer detainees out of the Guantánamo Bay prison. Sixty-eight prisoners were cleared for transfer, and five are scheduled to be moved by Dec. 31.

• Clinching a budget deal.

Congressional leaders are confident they can meet today’s deadline to pass a government budget and avoid a shutdown, despite dysfunction along the way.

Representatives have balked at some of the bill’s provisions, including fewer regulations for Wall Street and a higher ceiling for donations to national nominating conventions.

• Leaving bankruptcy behind.

Detroit is officially no longer bankrupt, bringing to a close the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history after 17 months.

Its reorganization plan allows the city to shed $7 billion of its debts and spend about $1.7 billion to remake city services over the next 10 years.

• Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew and the S.E.C. chairwoman, Mary Jo White, as well as the C.E.O.s of Goldman Sachs and General Motors, address the New York Times DealBook conference in New York today.

NOTEWORTHY

• Fewer new Americans.

The fertility rate in the U.S. fell for the sixth straight year in 2013, shrinking by almost 1 percent in part because of the slow economy.

Some analysts worry that a shrinking birthrate will have negative implications for business growth down the road.

• Too much radiation?

A new report says two-thirds of women who have lumpectomies for breast cancer are receiving excessive radiation therapy.

Studies show that three to four weeks of intensive radiation therapy is as effective as the traditional five- to seven-week treatment plan. It’s also cheaper and preferred by most women.

But doctors say entrenched practices are difficult to change.

• And the candidates are ...

Nominees for the Golden Globes were announced today, with “Birdman,” “Boyhood” and “Fargo” leading the way.

It appears in Norse mythology: After Baldr, the son of the goddess Frigga, is killed with a mistletoe arrow, Frigga decrees that mistletoe will never again be used as a weapon and that she will place a kiss on anyone who passes under it.

Because it bears fruit in winter, mistletoe was considered a symbol of fertility and virility. Supposedly, it was burned in pre-Christian Britain by white-cloaked druids who cut sprigs of the plant from oak trees to mark the solstice.

Now it stands for romantic love and destiny — if you stand beneath the mistletoe with someone, you’re supposed to kiss. Given the symbolism, you’re also probably supposed to marry ... and multiply.